“Then, let me ask you. What reason do you have to mess around with other men? Are you afraid that no one in Old Ding’s village knows what you have done and your dirty habits? Anyway, when the time comes, and the villagers all give the same statement that she accidentally drowned in the lake, the police won’t be able to find out anything.”
Ding Jiayi was in no way agreeable to Qiao Zijin hooking up with other men outside. But before Qiao Zijin was slapped by Zhou Zheng, Ding Jiayi did not even know that Qiao Zijin had gotten into such a mess after getting married.
Thus, in the two months that Qiao Zijin had been back, even if Ding Jiayi were to call the Zhou family, she would only ask about how her granddaughter was doing. She dared not even speak of Zhou Zheng slapping Qiao Zijin, or even mention Qiao Zijin’s name.
In fact, Ding Jiayi felt as though she had no right to even raise her head in front of the Zhou family.
For this reason, Ding Jiayi’s world views seemed to be rather proper in front of ordinary people. Only in front of Qiao Nan, Ding Jiayi’s world views were warped. They were world views of Ding Jiayi alone.
“Mom!” Qiao Zijin was infuriated. She would do what she had to do, but she was unwilling for others to speak about her in that manner. And it was her own biological mother who kept talking about how she had gotten in relationships with other men. Qiao Zijin could no longer hold back. “How can Zhou Zheng be bothered by how I’m not as pretty as his ex-girlfriend when he himself looks like this? And if Zhou Zheng had treated me well, would I even have done such things?”
She had only done so because the Zhou family and Zhou Zheng had forced her to.
“Come on. Don’t say such things to me. Tell them to those that like to listen to them. Knowing the Zhou family, they probably won’t come to pick you up. If you really don’t want to go back to the Zhou family and want to continue living here, remember to clean up after yourself. You’re already a mother. Be more hardworking. Can you really stand living in such a pigsty?”
Earlier on, why had she not realized that Zijin was such a sloppy person? In her mind, Zijin had been hardworking her whole life.
After being scolded by Ding Jiayi, Qiao Zijin pouted unhappily. When had she not been diligent? When she was younger, all the housework had been done by Qiao Nan. Her mom had never lifted a finger. When she went off to school afterward and spent little time at home, the burden of all the household chores fell on her mother.
Up until the year that she got married, she had not done much housework!
“I don’t know how to do that. How about I go to the capital with you?” When she married into the Zhou family, she had not done them either. Hadn’t Qiao Nan made it big? Just as well, she would go to the capital and catch up with Qiao Nan. It would not matter even if she failed, but she had to give some attitude to the Zhou family to scare them at the very least.
She snorted. It was entirely her efforts that brought the Zhou family to where they were today.
Throwing her aside now that she was no longer useful. Did they really think that Qiao Zijin was a good target for bullying?
“You’re going too?” Ding Jiayi hesitated for a moment. “Anyway, I have no money. You’ll have to let Qiao Nan pay for your expenses. That’s your business. I’m not going to care about that. But once you go to the capital, what will happen to your man? Are you going to split up with him?” When that time came, under the pressure from the Zhai family and Qiao Nan, would Zhou Zheng apologize to Zijin, who would then return obediently? Was that what Zijin had in mind?
Qiao Zijin looked meaningfully at her newly manicured nails and huffed. “What’s the hurry? Why do I have to break it off? I think the situation now is pretty good.” She was legally married, and her lover outside was handsome. Initially, she had liked it too, but she had not expected to become a mom and sleep with others.
“Whatever. I’m washing my hands off you.”
So, it was just as Qiao Nan took over He Yi’s position that Ding Jiayi and Qiao Zijin finished their discussion, bought plane tickets, and flew to the capital to find Qiao Nan.
“Grandpa, we’re here to bring you for lunch.” In the capital, Qiao Nan had just picked the three children up from school. On the way home, she took a detour and stopped by the small apartment that she had purchased in the capital to bring Qiao Dongliang along to the Zhai family’s house for lunch.
The reason why Qiao Nan had brought Qiao Dongliang over to the capital was so that he could rest well in his golden years. She was afraid that he would be too lonely living alone in Ping Cheng. Therefore, on the weekends and during special festivals, Qiao Nan would always bring Qiao Dongliang over to the Zhai family’s house to have a meal together.
In the beginning, Qiao Dongliang was rather embarrassed. He always felt out of place in the Zhai family’s house. Qiao Nan was the Zhai family’s daughter-in-law and part of the Zhai family, but he was only an outsider.
Fortunately, after the passing of Old Master Zhai, Qiao Dongliang felt a little less stressed out. Moreover, Zhai Yaohui and Miao Jing had a pleasant attitude toward Qiao Dongliang. Now that he visited frequently, Qiao Dongliang had started to accept it as part of his life.
“Why are you three children so happy today?” Seeing his granddaughter, Qiao Dongliang took her schoolbag from her. “Nan Nan, don’t you think teachers nowadays are too much? These children are still so young, but they have to carry around so many books. They even have a stack of never-ending homework! I heard from Old Chen next door that his grandson had so much homework that he stayed up until eleven in the evening but still could not finish it and ended up crying. Do our family’s children have to work so hard?”
“Grandpa, you’re thinking too much. We always finish our homework before eight o’clock. Mom said that children have to go to bed early and wake up early. This way, we’ll grow up quickly. The three of us go to bed by nine.” Er Bao stopped himself from commenting about how ‘efficient’ that kid must have been to not have finished his homework even by eleven.
Qiao Dongliang laughed. “Is that so? That’s impressive. When your mom was younger, she was so intelligent too. She would never fail to rank in the top three every exam. In my memories, she would not do homework until eleven in the evening, let alone read a book. She always went to bed by ten.” In other words, it was just a difference in talents.
“Grandma said that we’re smart like Mom. We’re Mom’s children!” San Bao added excitedly. The way this young lady hopped around with her pigtails made her seem like a little bunny.
Qiao Dongliang smiled widely and his eyes curved into crescents. “Smart! Nan Nan is smart and you three are like her, so you’re all smart. Amongst the five of us, your grandpa is probably the dumbest.”
“Grandpa, hurry and get in the car.” Da Bao, who was walking ahead of them, had already opened the door of the passenger’s seat to invite Qiao Dongliang in. Qiao Dongliang felt moved by this small gesture of Da Bao. This was not the first time Da Bao had done it, but every time he did it, Qiao Dongliang was always equally moved.
Only after he got into the car did Qiao Dongliang have the chance to congratulate Qiao Nan. “Congratulations, Nan Nan.”
